NICOLA STURGEON has a confession to make. In a world that delights in the global domination of Jamie, Nigella and John and Greg, she reveals she cannot cook.

Nope, it is husband Peter Murrell who wields the fish slice in their household. It’s not surprising, really, since, as chief executive of the Scottish National Party, he appears to have assembled all the right ingredients so far to create a winning recipe for the SNP.

“I don’t cook,” admitted Nicola ruefully. “Dinner would be interesting if I was to try to cook it. I have had lots of disasters and I now prefer not to try, but Peter is a good cook and he enjoys it. I am hopeless.”

There is something immensely satisfying at listening to one of the most successful women in Scotland declare herself less than excellent at something.

Last week she was named Scottish Politician of the Year for the second time, ticking a series of boxes that includes running the country, successfully holding the health portfolio and now spearheading the forthcoming referendum on independence for the Nats.

Even at the rather early hour of 8am for our interview, she is, as always, perfectly groomed.

Nicola says she’s more comfortable in jeans than smart suits

And then I discover that this is, in fact, a late appointment for Nicola, whose alarm goes off at 5.15 every morning so that she and Peter can beat the rush hour traffic from their home in Glasgow through to Edinburgh, where they grab some time together over a coffee before going their separate ways to work.

Nicola said: “I don’t think you should do this job unless you are passionate about what you believe in. You are in the public eye and if you make a mistake, it’s out there.

“I don’t believe politicians who say they don’t read the newspapers – of course you read what’s said and of course you get affected if people are saying really horrible things about you. There’s no way of denying that.

“The hard thing is that in every single walk of life people make mistakes because they are fallible, and usually you deal with it and move on, but in politics it’s publicised.

“There’s a tendency on the part of other people to not let you forget it, and that can be quite difficult for people to deal with sometimes.”

Nicola’s finest hour was arguably when, as health secretary, she had to deal with an outbreak of swine flu in Scotland. Every night on national television she was broadcast calmly giving the latest figures on the crisis.

This week she admitted: “That was quite scary. We might have been facing something that was absolutely catastrophic – the first cases were up here and the first people who died were here, and we were very much in the eye of that storm. You just didn’t know what you were dealing with.

“At the beginning I was wondering if I could cope, but you do – you get on with it. But it’s probably the hardest thing I’ve had to deal with.”

Nicola and Peter at home

At the other end of the spectrum, one of the best days of Nicola’s life was her wedding in July 2010 to Peter. They had been living together for seven years when he popped the question on Hogmanay 2009.

Together, they are one of the power couples of Holyrood – Nicola, the very public face of the SNP and Peter, the power behind a very successful and well-oiled machine.

They complement each other well, even out of the kitchen, and their home is a paean to Peter’s organisation, another area in which, domestically, they differ. “I am very organised at work but not in the house,” said Nicola frankly. But it also speaks of the lack of children.

Nicola went on: “I am asked that question all the time. Maybe we’ll have kids, maybe not. It’s not something I’m particularly hung up about. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

“There’s a part of me that thinks it would be very difficult doing the job I am doing right now, especially with what is happening over the next few years, and that it’s maybe not the fairest thing in the world for a child. Who knows. I am not ruling it out.”

Peter added gently: “But we would make the space.”

The pair have the kind of easy banter of people who are very much relaxed with each other.

Nicola said: “Being in the same kind of line of work has its up sides and its down sides. The up side is that Peter understands what’s going on and why I am late home all the time.

“The down side is that you just end up talking about it all the time and you never leave it outside. But I think we manage OK.”

Nicola loves relaxing with a good book

Nicola’s idea of heaven is shutting the door and curling up with a glass of wine and a good book. The shelves of books in her home reflect an eclectic taste, from biography to historical tomes to crime thrillers. She is currently reading Ian Rankin’s Standing In Another Man’s Grave.

The raft of books are contested only by the shoes upstairs in her wardrobe – red, blue, daywear, evening wear.

She admitted: “My passion for shoes and books make walking down the high street in Edinburgh difficult.

“I am always buying shoes – not too expensive, though, because I am very hard on them. I blame it on the cobbles in Edinburgh.”

Which brings us to a tricky topic – women politicians and fashion.

Nicola said: “That’s the hardest thing about being a woman in politics. Everyone has an opinion on what you wear and how you look that guys just don’t have to put up with at all.

“It’s important in politics to look professional, but you’ve got to be comfortable, too. I’m not naturally a smart-dressing type. I’m more at home in jeans. I don’t think about party affiliations when it comes to colour. The SNP colours are yellow and black, but they’re really difficult to wear.

“My favourite colour is red, and if I wear that someone will definitely say to me, ‘Those are Labour colours’. But I like red and Labour doesn’t own it.”